Barbara Lee

Background

Barbara Lee holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Mills College and a master's in social welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. The city describes her as a clinical social worker and former small business owner who, as a graduate student, founded CHANGE, a community mental health center. She served in the State Assembly, the State Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives for more than three decades. In her October 2026 State of the City speech she recalled buying a home in Maxwell Park while on public assistance. After voters recalled Mayor Sheng Thao in November 2024, Lee won the special election of April 15, 2025. The city lists her as Oakland's 52nd mayor and the first Black woman elected to the office.

In office

Lee inherited an estimated $87 million budget shortfall, KQED reported. The City Council approved her 2025 and 2026 budgets without significant changes, and both avoided layoffs, according to The Oaklandside. She campaigned for Measure E, a $192-a-year parcel tax proposed by city unions to raise about $34 million a year for police, fire, homeless shelter and cleanup work. Voters rejected it in the June 2, 2026 primary, and she said the city lacks the resources to provide basic services.

In January 2026 she restored the police cadet program with $900,000 from Kaiser Permanente and PG&E. The Oaklandside reported in September that violent crime was down 18 percent from a year earlier, with 35 homicides so far in 2026 against 42 at the same point in 2025; experts it cited tie part of the drop to a national trend. She secured more than $9 million from the Crankstart Foundation for illegal dumping, after a spring city audit found the dumping strategy was not working. The city's homeless count fell about 20 percent over two years.

In May 2026 she accepted the resignation of City Administrator Jestin Johnson after inappropriate texts became public and named Betsy Lake interim administrator. A task force she formed recommended a strong-mayor system; she and Council President Kevin Jenkins drafted the plan, and in June 2026 she cast a tie-breaking council vote to place charter reform on the November ballot. In October 2026 civilian workers in IFPTE Local 21 were preparing a strike authorization vote over a contract.

On the ballot

Lee is on the November 3, 2026 ballot for a full four-year term, decided by ranked-choice voting. Her challengers are Brenda F. Grisham, a crime victims' advocate who led the 2024 recall of District Attorney Pamela Price; Mindy Ruth Pechenuk, who ran for mayor in 2025; and Julius Robinson, a former bank executive. In The Oaklandside's October candidate interviews, Grisham said Lee is "doing a great job" bringing philanthropic dollars into the city, and Pechenuk said the money raised does not scratch the surface of Oakland's problems and urged a no vote on Lee's strong-mayor proposal. Measure EE, which would make the mayor the city's chief executive, is on the same ballot. The office is next on the ballot November 5, 2030.